Hey everyone. Hope easter weekend is going solid. Quick opinion question, Which guitar would do you think is better. The Washburn WD10s or Yamaha FG700s. The yamaha runs around 200 and i found the Washburn for 154.99 on music supply. They both seem like solid beginners but i heard the yamaha is closer to jumbo than standard and i am a relatively small guy (5 9). Keep in mind my closest music store is 2 hours away so trying them myself is kinda difficult.

I encourage you to make the drive anyway. Guitars differ so dramatically in feel and sound you really need to play in person. Otherwise the likelihood that you will be totally satisfied with your purchase goes way down and in the end you'll be driving that 200 miles anyway.

That's a pretty tough call. I like the Yamahas, I have one and they're hard to beat for what they cost.

If you're concerned about size, both the Yamaha and the Washburn would be considered dreadnoughts by just about everyone, even though Yamaha calls theirs a Folk Guitar. It's actually a little wider in the lower bout than a true dreadnought, but to me it seems to be more comfortable than my Martin dread. You said you're 5'9" tall. I'm shorter than that and I don't have a problem with either of mine........so I don't think you would either.

And, the price you quoted on the Washburn is really good. From what I was able to find, they're going for about $100 more than the price you found. The Washburn WD10S also gets great reviews.........so, what can I say.

Too bad you can't get somewhere to actually play both of them to compare them. Looks like it's time to flip a coin and take a chance.

Realistically, either one would make a fine guitar to learn on. Have fun.

I vote Washburn hands down. If it was $200 Yamaha vs $200 Washburn, I would say a toss up. But, the Washburn being almost $50 less, you could get a decent case for the extra $50 saved. The Washburn also comes with a bone nut/saddle.. a nice little feature the Yamaha lacks.

I owned a Yamaha (FG730S) and the Washburn in my sig at the same time. I needed to get rid of one to make room and I decided to keep the Washburn. In my opinion, the Washburns are built as good, if not better then the similarly priced Yamahas and they have the bone nut/saddle. I also think the Washburn's neck profile is nicer. The Yamaha necks are a little bit more "meaty" where as the Washburn necks are more slender (not nut width, I'm talking the thickness from fretboard to back of neck).

But, with everything, opinions very and this is just my own.

Either way I think you get a great guitar for your money... so both choices are excellent for the price range you are looking at... in fact, those two would be at the very top of the list in my books (in my book it would be Washburn WD10S #1 and Yamaha FG700 #2, lol)

I haven't played the Washburn, but I can attest to the Yamaha being a great guitar. And if you are concerned about size, Yamaha makes the FS720S, which is similar to the FG700S but in a smaller size and shorter scale. If I had it to do over, the FS720S would have been my first guitar, even though I like my FG700S.

Ok, I was at GC today and played both of those guitars you mentioned, remembering your post. I honestly don't go out of my way to be negative but sometimes I feel compelled to issue a warning. The Yamaha FG700 sounded like it has socks stuffed into the sound hole and for some reason the B string buzzed but I couldn't see why. The Washburn had uneven strings, a loose saddle, squeaky tuners and sounded like tin siding slamming against a house during a hurricane when playing treble. I played other Yamahas and Washburns there and most of them were just more of the same.

Now, I wouldn't go saying this if I didn't have a solution. The Breedlove c200 Passport my friend, consider it. It is $265 right now and it is SO MUCH BETTER than either of these two guitars. The action is low and easy, the sound is loud, the tone is sweet, frets are level, tuning pegs don't squeak, etc. etc. So much better value for your hard earned money. Ok, I feel like a jerk for dumping on what you're looking at but then again I just have to be honest about what I personally experienced. This just goes to show you even more that you should go to your closest store and do not buy either of these guitars without playing them first, and playing other options in your price range.